Bills BattleTech Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II Development Assistance Randall N. Production Staff Cover Art Anthony Scroggins Cover Design and Layout Ray Arrastia Evolved Faction Logos Design Jason Vargas Illustrations Doug Chaffee Chris Lewis Duane Loose Matthew Plog Record Sheets Sebastian Brocks Johannes Heidler BattleTech Logo Design Shane Hartley, Steve Walker and Matt Heerdt While none of the units featured in this volume are considered tournament legal, their use in introductory games is appropriate due to their Succession War status. However, the experimental nature of these designs also draws upon the Experimental-level rules presented in Tactical Operations. The rules for using ’Mechs, vehicles and fighters in BattleTech game play can be found in Total Warfare, while the rules for their construction can be found in TechManual. The designs featured in this book reflect both limited-run production units and “one-offs” that never reached full factory production. The ’Mechs, combat vehicles, and fighters described in Experimental Technical Readout: Succession Wars provide players with a sampling of designs maintained or even newly constructed in the dark days of lostech. Cordially yours, Christopher Auburn Tharkad, 22 January 3082 (sent via Priority HPG) I am confident that the study of Succession Wars-era technological innovations is an area that won’t fall under royal censorship. Secrets of the trade, eh? Let me know if you would like to pursue this particular avenue of research further. Thanks to my family’s network of associates, I often find these tidbits quite fascinating, and far more exciting than the often-dry official reports one often finds in our court archives.
I have chosen to present these reports to you in a largely unedited form, to avoid tainting the primary sources. I should note upfront that the nature of these articles varies quite wildly. But a few have left their footprints on military history that persists to this very day. Others were simply victims of the changing tides of warfare. Many of these were failures, admittedly developmental dead-ends that only served to prove a solution had to be sought elsewhere. To whet your appetite, I have taken the liberty of compiling some of the Succession Wars’ more remarkable records of experimental one-offs and field variants that tried to overcome the declining tech standards of their day. In fact, this very destruction that forced new innovation, inevitably culminating in the renaissance we saw just as the Clans invaded-or, depending on how ironically one wishes to see it, the renaissance that inspired the Clans’ decision to return to the Inner Sphere. Contrary to the popular belief, of course, the destruction of knowledge and innovation during the twenty-ninth and thirtieth centuries was far from complete.
I especially applaud your recent contributions to the compilation of equipment seen in the early days of modern warfare, a research area that I have personally been pursuing of late, especially with respect to the developments that took place during the dark days of the Succession Wars. On Tharkad, I have always found that study immensely gratifying, and probably would even if it weren’t the “family business”. I can also relate to your choice to focus on military history, as your brother did (God rest his soul). I feared for a time that they would transform you into some kind of cynical armchair politician had they kept you on INN much longer, and I know your passion has always been the study of history. I am pleased that ComStar found a role for you beyond that of a media pundit for Mister Stone’s new Republic.
I must admit that I was somewhat surprised to hear that you would not be returning to the new Checkswa campus on Donegal, though I suppose the allure of humanity’s home can be very great indeed. My Dearest Bertram, I trust you’re settling in nicely on Terra.